The biggest impediment to going green is that nobody knows what being "green" really means. - Inspired by the results of the Shelton Group's Ecopulse study

Although everyone's talking about going green and reducing their carbon footprints by living, shopping, commuting and working better, the reality may be that most people don’t know much about what being "green" really is.

Brandweek reports on the results of a recent study called Ecopulse, conducted by the Shelton Group: "What it found was a whole lot of confusion. Half (49%) of respondents said a company's environmental record is important in their purchasing decisions. But that number dropped to 21% when consumers were asked if this had actually driven them to choose one product over another. And only 7% could name the product they purchased.

The study also asked consumers to name which features a home would need to have before they would consider it green. Four in 10 (42%) said they didn't know, while 28% said solar, 12% said compact fluorescent light bulbs and 10% named Energy Star appliances. Nothing else really registered. In a second survey that listed 17 features, consumers were asked to check those a home must have before they'd deem it green. The average number was 10.4."